PC Laptop Brands

[kaerlis]

(i was going to post as an addition to the "know any decent overseas websites that sell Laptops?" thread, but my post ended up too long, and encompasses too many months wasted time researching them, so i'm putting it here on its own for anyone who wants the results of that:)

Oh dear. I've spent way too much time researching laptops, brands, and browsing through endless buyer feedback on whirlpool forums etc,
and now i am enticed to spill the results of those wasted endeavors:

The Good

Asus: excellent 2 year standard global warranty (on most laptops. check the conditions, as few models may vary. not on netbooks) you get proper, free service from any local repairer they have on the books. In the rare case they cant fix it, they'll give you a new better model laptop as comphensation. This global warranty makes importing a great option. Will take a week or two, or several for overseas imported parts. No next day/to your door option.

quick guide to their lines:
eee -netbooks.
k -cheap, budget laptops.
ul -ultralow voltage. 10+ hours battery life, lower performance cpu. very thin builds, can have modest switchable graphics cards.
u -like ul, but with a standard cpu. thicker.
n -multimedia. mid-high range performance, often very good graphics.
g -gaming. these are the kick ass. Free razer brand mouse and bag on many models. some sport the best graphics cards around, and way way cheaper than the only main competition of dell/alienware. have a look at the flagship g73 and coming soon g53h models. you get twin hard drive bays, radeon 5870M graphics, i7 cpu, etc. Along with low heat, and great sound. newer models can have hybrid hard drives with 4gb ssd cache, better screens, and usb 3.0.

Also keep in mind with asus, they LOVE making new models. it can be hard to keep up. this can be good, in that they bring new changes to market quicker than their competitors (especially usb 3.0, and nvidia optimus graphics card switching software) rather than waiting for yearly model updates, but it also means it can be a lot to research and follow when buying. note that the quality of the keyboard etc can be somewhat basic on some models, judge for yourself. good warranty coverage counts for a lot though.
+1 Fyusii (4years of making laptop sales)


Toshiba: better than average reliability, better harman kardon brand speakers. note that relaiblity is primarily in the upper end Tecra business models, which come with 3 to 5 years of standard warranty for a reason, they're not expected to break. consumer level laptops across all pc brands use many similar parts, and thus reliability is just better than average at our market point.
+1 Jim Dash (2years of making laptop sales)

Fujitsu
Fujitsu are a rarer niche brand in Australia, not found in any major department stores but in some smaller local computer retailers.
Fujitsu computers are all made entirely in their own japanese factories, with good quality control, a point they are keen to emphasise. There is a huge array of models which can be hard to follow. Some have good screens and other higher quality elements, and they are primarily targeted at the office/business environment. The little feedback i've heard of their reliability has been good, and support is apparently good, and run through one lady in sydney, who is apparently very happy to follow up any personal problems to a great extent. Being so rare, while i would place them in good i need more feedback on them to judge for sure.

The Mixed -some good some bad

Dell - Dell are a mix. some of their laptops have very often come out with faulty designs and problems, even with the higher studio xps models. I've watched friends go through having nearly everything fail in one, yet some are still big fans with working laptops and are fans of them and the build quality vs the asian brands, and warranty support can be really, really good, with technicians coming to your door and replacing parts for you the next day when needed, at least on expensive studio xps models.

Dell are also unique in that you can customise when ordering through them online, and this allows for some great benefits in being able to choose a better graphics card etc sometimes. remember you only need 4gb of ram really, etc 8gb or more is pretty excess. a downside of this customisation, is that prices can be a bit decieving as you need to add a few options to the base models to get something good.
Dell also have some high quality screens available as an option on their studio laptops. in the past i've seen a friend choose them over alienware because of this (though now available on both). If you have the money ($300-400 i think?), a high quality screen is not that common on the laptop market where price matters so much.


Lenovo: lenovo are a mix and hard for me to gauge. my experiences are from having multiple older T series in the family which have all had problems after time but gone through a very hard life. The consumer laptops are lower quality and lack the thinkpad features that give lenovo their reputation. The thinkpads come with a keyboard and trackpoint that are popular for being excellent to use. I've grown up with them, and find it annoying using trackpads now over a trackpoint, there is some useablity in that, much like people appreciate the high quality larger trackpads of apple macbooks. T series are also said to incorporate a metal chassis similar to the macbook pros to a limited extent, but then cover it in a rubberised plastic texture and black paint. I find it amusing that they go to this extent to make their looks conventional, while apple to the same extent to show it off. colors often include a choice of matte black or glossy black, oh lenovo how you spoil us with those outrageous choices.


The Bad:

Acer -note that these guys are really cheap. they sell the most laptops in the world, because they are cheap. They are a budget, fairly standard manufacturer. given the price, i think acer are slightly under rated compared to hp, dell, etc, but still seem to carry a bad reputation. older models used to be particularly bad, some models seem fine, some dont. i hate many of their keyboards -raised keys perfect for being broken off, or collecting debris underneath.
-2 bad reliablilty and warranty support -Ice, Aussie xp.


Msi: i don't know very much of them, but while they do make a few good spec gaming laptops i haven't heard good things of them.


Sony: sony have some nicer keyboards and trackpads and appearance to their laptop, and a premium price. It's worth noting that the australian price mark up on vaios is far worse than most other regions and brands apparently. some of the upper end vaios (z series i think?) are very well equipped and desireable, if you can afford it. I have had one friend with a troubled vaio, and her experience with their warranty service was very poor unfortunately.
-1 bad warranty support -islandwolf


The REALLY Bad:

Gateway/packard bell/compaq:
These are the lower budget derivative brands of acer and hp, with less market presence, support, and few known qualities. Gateway went bust in asia/pacific and changed hands a year ago for example. i would avoid these brands, compaq have a particularly bad reputation these days even from HP people.

HP: (file under "the great satan")
seriously do not EVER buy a hp unless you have to.
some amd with good graphics card laptops from hp offer good value for people like us, but hp have appalling reliability and support. If asked to repair, they will most commonly just reformat the system. do not keep consistent case notes, and then insist on the same diagnostics and reformatting/etc type measures if you take it in again. The aim seems to be on spending absolutely nothing on replacement parts unless taken to ACCC/etc. when nvidia cards failed widespread a year ago, most manufacturers acknowledged the problem and took steps to fix it. HP underclocked the gpus of returned laptops instead, giving customers back their laptops with a graphics card that couldn't do anything comparitive to onboard graphics, and would last long enough to pass the 12 month we no longer care mark. repairers complain of being given very loosely "compatible" parts which rarely fit or operate properly. HP's envy line are particularly bad, having macbook looks but burning flesh with heat and prone to terrible design such as a bios which turned off all fan cooling in early models. Avoid.[/b]
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[Zhou]

I've personally got an Asus ul30vt. Couldn't be happier. 1.68kg, led backlit, up to 12 hours battery and when OC'ed using asus inbuilt oc tool pushes out pretty decent fps in l4d2 in medium.

So yeah. Asus gets Zhou's tick of approval. Their netbooks are pretty hot too.
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[Island_Wolf]

I have a over 5 years old refurbished Toshiba laptop. Only problem is HDD is slowly getting more bad sectors but that's normal for HDD after many years of use (and I used it everyday). Toshiba is indeed a good brand.

However, I disaprove Sony being in the good section. I know someone with full of problems with it and once it was out of warranty and it died after being sent back to repair 3 times, he went with a Macbook and never came back. Plus, definitely not worth the price, people are paying for the brand and for its "Macbook substitution (for musicians/video editing etc)"
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[lapzod]

I have a HP and I agree with some of what you mentioned. Due to faulty design, if you rest your left arm on it as you type, you force it to overheat and freeze.

Plagued with constant freezing problems, and little to no answer from HP about it, I finally found out what the problem was, and it works fine now (just don't rest your arm on it...)

So I don't think they're as bad as they're made out to be, but they are a cheap laptop.

[Fyuusii]

I've worked selling laptops for the last four years and largely agree with your recommendations; Asus are king with Toshiba a close second (these guys are probably slightly better for business applications, but I'm still an Asus fanboy). Nice work on the thread.

HP (and their derivative Compaq) are quite honestly one of the worst brands I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Seriously. If you're keen to buy one of these machines, budget in a few extra hundred for some Nurofen to go with it.
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"Now I stand, the lion before the lambs... and they do not fear.
They cannot fear..."

[Jim Dash]

Sold Laptops for two and a half years. Toshiba were my favourite, as in their Qosmio range. Everybody you talk to will have a different opinion. Acer have grown majoly since their inquisition of Gateway. And I mean grown in quality.

HP are teh scum mate, nowadays.

But, after it all, I wouldn't buy any of them. I still prefer my Macs. Love them to bits.

[chibiandy]

I've originally had an Asus F3JV, which had passed away after 4 years of service, and now I've moved onto an Asus N61JQ, which I'm very pleased with. It's so great, that I've abandoned all plans to move towards a MacBook Pro
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[iCE]

As an owner of an acer laptop for the past....2 years or so, I have to say:

Go near them at your own risk. They have the worst customer service, the USB ports break everything and their monitors are faulty. (Had 2, one broken by myself, and the other breaking for no reason at all).

TL;DR: Get one made by asus or toshiba, or if space isnt an issue, or you arent fussed about portability: build a desktop.

/endrant.
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Xbox 360 Gamertag - xMetallic iCEx

[kaerlis]

OKAY, to be clear, i did not mean to place sony as "good". i only meant to seperate between "the REALLY bad" (HP, derivatives) and everything else, especially as i expected some would contend what counts as good and bad across brands that encompass so many models.

i'm surprised my summary seems to agree with the views of everyone else here thus far. asus and toshi on top, a mix, and then hp and acer derivatives at the far seperated bottom.
i might re-add good/mixed/bad titles in said order.

i appreciate the input,
and i am going to add a + and - number to brands underneath for good and bad experiences, with names attached, thus showing the experiences of other forum members. i'm glad to know i wasn't wrong about sony, and to know more of acer.
keep it coming folks
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[Aussie XP]

[kaerlis]

aargh, i forgot a brand, and it's one of my favorites:

Fujitsu
Fujitsu are a rarer niche brand in Australia, not found in any major department stores but in some smaller local computer retailers.
Fujitsu computers are all made entirely in their own japanese factories, with good quality control, a point they are keen to emphasise. There is a huge array of models which can be hard to follow. Some have good screens and other higher quality elements. They are primarily targeted at the office/business environment. The little feedback i've heard of their reliability has been good. Fujitsu's support is apparently good, and run through a single lady in sydney, who is apparently very happy to follow up any personal problems to a great extent. Being so rare, while i would place them in good i need more feedback on them to judge for sure.

Theres also apple of course, but thats a very different game to any other maker, it's not like a normal pc company.
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[SumAznGuy]

Asus are the awesome.

Also, the n series Graphics cards aren't decent, they're pretty damn awesome for what you pay. The 5730 i've got in my n61-JQ whatever can run stuff like Just Cause 2(The demo at least) smoothly without any really obvious lag. I havn't really put many games on it to test it further because i specifically bought the thing for study.....but the fact i know it can play recent games at a pretty much locked fps on it sure is a bonus. That and it has USB 3.0 Even if i have nothing that supports USB 3.0

The only thing that disappoints me a bit is that the battery only lasts 3-4 hours, but i've been told that's pretty much the average battery life for multimedia laptops.

The graphics card comparison between n and g series laptops is soughta like a 5770 compared to a 5870: Cheap but have awesome performance to "awesome desktop graphics card" in a laptop
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[kaerlis]

For a standard i5 or i7, with a powerful 5730 gpu running, 3-4 hours is actually pretty good. around 2 hours is norm on powerful gaming laptops.
thus is why asus are going for nvidia cards in their latest model revisions, autoswitching software to leave the discrete gpu switched off whenever not needed.

mm, i need to add samsung to the list as well sometime later.
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[Benc82]

Interesting you guys have had such bad experiences with HP.

We have been using HPs at work for many years and I havent had issues getting parts replaced (besides having to speak to an Indian call centre which is fkning tedious and ends in rage)

I guess they must treat corporate customers a bit better than home users.

As for quality, you get what you pay for. We used to buy decent business spec HPs, with the recent GFC budget cuts, we have switched to cheaper Dell models and I really dont like them. Such a plasticy cheap feel. Im sure the more expensive Dells are great though, like I said, get what you pay for.
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XBL/PSN/Steam: BenC82

[Ciel]

Warranty, repairs, etc etc.

This brand, that brand, do I need this much power, what's the battery life, latest model, so much headaches, I suggest one of these.


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[ZeroX03]

Been using HP for a couple of years now, have had no problems so far. Don't go near Acer with a 10ft pole, worst ever. Asus are my all time favourite.
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b+2,1 mindgames

[Adam]

I'd agree with what most people are saying above, Asus are the ones to go for, closely followed by Toshiba. In my experience in retail, they're the two most reliable brands.

Dell and Acer can be hit and miss. Some Dells seem quite good, others terrible, in terms of reliability. The $500 Acer laptops we used to sell a couple of years ago were essentially disposable, would only last a few months, yet the Acer Aspire One display model I bought a year ago is still going strong after being dropped hard several times.

MSI I'm not sure about. I've read some good things in reviews, although they seem a little dodgy. All the new netbook PCs we've been sent, the Wind U160s, proclaim a 15 hour battery life, yet they only have a 3-cell battery. Something fishy's going on somewhere, there.

HP seem to be the worst. They mess up even on basic stuff. We still get in HP laptops with 4GB of ram and 32-bit Windows 7.
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[kaerlis]

I should have mentioned, as benc82 brought up, HP support for business is way, way better than for consumers. If you have a business account and someone to contact, thats the only way to go. They'll treat you way better and follow up on everything as they get personal credit. If you are just a consumer, try and get the name of someone you are put onto on the phone, and ask for them each time/try to stick with them, as that can work much better than random neglect. but yeah, HP and Dell seem to be the only two who offer full business support with the next day on site servicing and such, so while they might not be great otherwise they can be the only suitable choices for many businesses.
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[3mt]

In terms of build quality, either Apple or Thinkpads are the best. I can't attest much to Apple as I havent really used them, but I've owned a Thinkpad x200 for a year and a half now, and I can say that its build is just magnificent. I've played around with my friends' laptops, and they all have that creaking wobble when you open the screen, and you can tell that the material making up the laptops are not that good.
But with Thinkpads, they open and shut smoothly, they're solidly built and can withstand drops.
The main downside is that Thinkpads cost almost twice as much as the standard laptop with the same specs.
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[chickenplucka]

I have a HP Envy which I paid a few thousand dollars for a few months ago. I absolutely love this machine, I havent had any occasions of over heating, although it does run hot when running Crysis or Company of Heroes, but I bought a gaming mousse/keyboard and laptop stand for when I want to use it for those. I'm typing on it right now with it on my lap and my palms are on either side of the multitouch trackpad mouse. Not too hot at all, and it's been on all day.

Sure it was expensive, but it looks awesome and runs most games at the highest settings. It's also really slim which is a plus for taking to uni.
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[byronlewis]

In the past five years I have owned three different brands, and I have to say my current Dell Latitude has been the most pleasing. I use my laptop for 7-8 hours daily on an average. HP has got to be the worst laptop I have ever owned.
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[mark_v]

I currently have a Dell Inspiron 15 which is about 10 months old and I love it. Looks great, was quite cheap in comparison to others and haven't had any problems with it yet.

[sobriquet835]

Over the last 6 years, I've had two Toshiba satellite laptops. The first one was great, and is still kicking despite being slow, although it has got a broken hinge, that occured about 3 years into it's life.

My current one is terrible. I have had it two years, and true it's still running. but the disk drive doesn't always work, I've had to restore it multiple times due to other hardware problems and it has Vista, which I absolutely hate, although that's hardly Toshiba's fault. The other thing is it has a lot of bloatware, but that seems common to most laptops.

I also get the feeling that compared to my sisters Acer, the wireless isn't that great. I'm not sure if I'd buy another Toshiba.

I guess I should mention the one problem I've had with both: The power cords. Each one had their power cord break after 2 years. That may be due to my clumsy self continually dropping the power box, though.

[V23]

I used to have a Toshiba TE2100 and then got a refurbished Toshiba Tecra M2 and they were both quite good at the time but I recently bought a Dell and so far so good.